A bullet-filled life

As per usual, I'm thinking in bullets. I think my life is a bunch of bullets, random ones, like this: 

•  I love Diet Dr. Pepper in a serious way. We’re soul mates. Well, until I recently broke things off. It wasn’t Diet Dr. Pepper; it was the artificial sweetener I wanted to kick to the curb. So, for more than a week, no artificial sweeteners. So far, it hasn’t been bad (of course it’s only been a little more than a week). I’ve avoided pop (yep, I’m from the Midwest), and I just skip the sweet in coffee. It’s not the best, but it’s doable. I don’t think Diet Dr. Pepper is out of my life forever, but maybe it will be. At the most, I'll have it on a very special occasion as opposed to multiple times per week. Until then, DDP, you’re in my thoughts (and I still love you … sorry).

• I have a confession: I haven’t run outside in a long time … weeks. I was stuck in the craptastic gym for a few days with the pesky tropical storm that hit Florida, and I don’t think I’ve run outside since. This is very, very strange. I don’t like running on the treadmill (or do I?). I’d always rather run outside (or would I?).
• I recently joined Pinterest, and I’m in the trying-to-figure-it-out phase. I’ve found cool stuff on there, pinned it, and that’s it. Is that all you do? Oh, and add me (if you want a Pinterest idiot for a friend).

Thanks, Pinterest!

• I got sucked in to the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy. I don’t really think it’s that well written, but I can’t put it down … not sure what that says about me. Oh, and my new catch phrase is “holy hell.”

Day 13 (Sept. 7)

I flew back to Florida on Sept. 6 (a Tuesday and a group run day). I landed about 3 p.m., and I thought I could make it to the group run at 6:30 p.m. Timing-wise, sure I could have made it. No problem. But, I just didn’t feel up to it. I was tired, and I knew I hadn’t eaten properly or drank nearly enough water. So, I skipped it. I really didn’t want to since this was our first day of speed intervals, but it just wasn’t happening for me.

So, thanks to some tropical storm-wave-depression-high-pressure-system, it rained quite a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it rained out beach volleyball. But, it wasn’t raining that evening so I could make up my run. And, my best running buddy Caroline went with me.

The plan: run 45 minutes with two, three-minute hard intervals with a three-minute jog after each hard interval. So, after a 15-minute warm-up run, we started the intervals. Three minutes felt way longer than it ever has before. Yikes. But, we made it through them and kept running (OK, running could be a bit strong, but it wasn't walking) for the remaining time. That was hardest running workout I’ve done to date.